A few minutes later, at 9:33 a.m., National Security Council Spokesman Tommy Vietor called BuzzFeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith, who had retweeted the report, to ask that the tweet be taken down, warning that it would endanger the life of the president and everyone with him if the tweet was not removed.

The White House denial only fueled speculation as to the president’s whereabouts. Drudge got involved, the New York Post had to take down a story and it wasn’t until 3 p.m. that the Associated Press reported (officially) that Obama was in Afghanistan.